‘Kick-Ass’ creator: ‘Jim Carrey bought us millions in free publicity’

The creator of the “Kick-Ass” movie franchise is convinced Jim Carrey did him a favor by refusing to take part in the second film’s press tour as his boycott bought the movie $30 million of free publicity.

Carrey has been fighting for a tightening of America’s gun control laws in the aftermath of a school shooting in Connecticut last December, and he subsequently withdrew his support for “Kick-Ass 2” over its depiction of violence.

However, Mark Millar, who wrote the “Kick-Ass” comic books and is a producer on the movies, now admits Carrey’s headline-grabbing stunt actually did the film a big favor.

He tells Britain’s Daily Record newspaper, “In a weird way, Jim Carrey did us the biggest PR favor of all time. Universal (studios) estimate that it’s about $30 million worth of publicity that we got out of him pulling out.”

Millar adds, “Jim has been a massive advocate of gun control and come under flak for it from the gun lobby, who really hate him for it. It gave them real ammunition when the first poster of him in ‘Kick-Ass 2’ was of him with a pointed gun (sic) in his hand. He got all these gun guys tweeting him and it started to upset him. Eventually he felt he had to justify things.

“I understand what happened. It was a bit of a curve ball but in a brilliant way the situation bought us double our marketing budget. In terms of airtime it was a $30 million silver lining.”

The writer and producer goes on to insist the incident has not soured his relationship with Carrey, saying, “Nobody has spoken with Jim since. He has just dropped off radar. I know he’s seen the film and the ultimate irony is that he is brilliant. It may be his best role in a decade because he’s so charismatic. I really wanted to work with him again and I certainly wouldn’t be against it.”

The “Kick-Ass” sequel, a follow-up to Matthew Vaughn’s 2010 hit, stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz as youngsters who team up to fight bullies. Carrey plays a vigilante named Colonel Stars and Stripes.